The Scottish president of the Federation of Independent Retailers’ (the Fed), Uthayakumar Soundararajan, has written to congratulate John Swinney following the SNP’s success in last month’s election - and has offered to work with his government to ensure the interests of small independent retailers are heard.
In his letter, Soundararajan said: “This is a challenging time for the sector and our members due to retail crime, and high taxation. Now the election is complete, we’d like to take the opportunity to discuss with you or your government colleagues about how we support independent retail.”
The letter also highlighted the continued uncertainty caused by the potential price cap on certain supermarket products and the impact it could have on the wider sector, including small independent shops.
Key challenges and opportunities likely to face small shops during the coming four-year term of the Holyrood Parliament were also highlighted. These were identified in the Fed’s manifesto for the election originally published in January, which focused on reducing theft, limiting cost increases for small shops and a smooth roll-out of the Deposit Return Scheme for recycling bottles and cans.
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